Harshal K.
TechGuru Delivering Business Solutions | Web is My Passion | Future Entrepreneur | Mobile Geek | Digital Artist
Responsive Design vs. Adaptive Design
Recently I came across to couple of articles comparing/differntiating both of them. Mostly it discussed about screen size and adjusting content as per devices. Is this the only difference between both of them? Or both are the same? As marketer/brand which one we should focus; including mobile web.
Answers (4)
When the design needs to be distinctive as Responsive & Adaptive, this invites a different approach to consider them. Mainly, could be sliced in two different context - Behavioral and Functional.
In Behavioral context, Responsive Design should serve to the dynamic dialogues between two/multiple interfaces (e.g. APIs, Dynamic Info User Interface, Haptics). Adaptive Design should serve to the conditional/environmental needs between the interfaces (Preferences, Custom settings, Business logic/rules).
Whereas, in Functional context, Responsive Design should cope with appropriate information (also read as 'data') sharing (e.g. APIs, Dynamic Info User Interface). Here, Adaptive Design should cope-up with specifications of appropriate data (GUI, Data amount, Bandwidth).
Glenn R.
Experienced Graphic and Web Design Professional
Best Answers in: Web Development (11), Blogging (3), Computers and Software (2), Public Relations (1), Starting Up (1), Software Development (1)
Adaptive web sites are those that adapt their design, structure and content to best meet the needs of their users over time. This is usually achieved by reviewing statistical information about user behaviour (e.g., through analytics data) and enhancing the design and content in key areas to best meet users expectations.
Responsive design is where a web site will respond to the capabilities of a user's technological capabilities to best meet the user's needs. That is to say, it will adapt to the screen size/resolution of the user's device, ability to use javascript, responsiveness to HTML5 and CSS3 technologies, etc. to ensure that the user experience is the best it can be.
They are two very different things. In the initial construction of the website, the developer/designer should be concentrainting on achieving the best responsive design possible, through use of media queries and other technologies to ensure that the user experience is as appropriate as possible.
Following launch the design should be reviewed in response to user feedback and behaviour to ensure that the content and design are enhanced to meet the needs of customers. Particularly, for example, where users arrive at a landing page and bounce (leave it) straight away - this page should be reviewed to make sure it meets users' expectations. Additionally, the responsive design should be reviewed and tweeked/improved where appropriate to continue improving the overall design and build of the site, site, database, server performance, etc.
Cole M.
co-founder at ijitsu design, LLC, designer, web-developer, and marketer
Best Answers in: Web Development (11), Search Marketing (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Software Development (1), Wireless (1)
Glenn Reffin said it about as elegantly and accurately as you'll find. Good answer mate.
Aidan F.
Owner of a boutique web shop focused on Drupal CMS, & Responsive / Adaptive Design for Mobile, Tablet, & Desktop
Both terms have a very similar objective. They seek to provide the best possible experience on a single website when it's viewed on a multitude of desktop, mobile, tablet devices.
Ethan Marcote is widely cited as coining the term Responsive Design which is the use media queries to serve different CSS allowing a site to change it's appearance when viewed on different size screens. So in short it can be accomplished with just plain HTML & CSS. (These days it's usually HTML5/CSS3, but it's not required)
Adaptive Design is the title of the book by Aaron Gustafson so I'm guessing he's recognized as on an authority of term. He sites adaptive design as including the CSS media queries of Responsive Design, but also adding Javascript based enhancements to change the site's HTML markup based off the capabilities of the device. This is also called "Progressive Enhancement"
An example is you might have a side bar navigation on the desktop size version of the site, and then when viewed on a smartphone the menu becomes a select list to save space in the interface. Another example is you might offer functionally on mobile device not available on a desktop. Say you had a restaurant website - When it's viewed on a mobile device that's location aware with GPS, a panel appears saying "Get directions to our restaurant from your location". Desktops don't know their location so it doesn't appear to them.
I think as a marketer you shouldn't really consider it and either/or proposition. Both terms are very closely related and have are useful in different kinds of projects. If you're interested in learning more consider joining the group "Responsive Web Design - Real World applications" where we're talking a little less about code, and a little more about planning, strategy, and implementation considerations related to the Responsive/Adaptive Web design.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Responsive-Web-Design-Real-World-4215540?gid=4215540&trk=hb_side_g
